Immediate ceasefire needed in Yemen, Red Cross says
(CNN)The Red Cross on Saturday called for an immediate 24-hour ceasefire in battle-torn Yemen, saying many more people recently wounded in airstrikes and ground fighting will die if not tended to soon.
The call came just before the U.N. Security Council met late Saturday morning to discuss the situation in the Arabian Peninsula nation, where Shiite rebels are pitted against external Arab air forces and fighters loyal to Yemen's displaced Sunni president.
A pause was needed especially in and near the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, where intense fighting has happened in the past two weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Food, water, medical items and personnel need to get into these areas, the group said.
"Otherwise, put starkly, many more people will die. For the wounded, their chances of survival depend on action within hours, not days," Robert Mardini, the ICRC's head of operations in the Near and Middle East, said.
Another Red Cross official said people are running out of food, water and fuel.
"Medical supplies need to be here yesterday. The situation is difficult,"said Marie-Claire Feghali, a spokeswoman for the ICRC who is in the capital, Sanaa. "We need to save the lives that can be saved."
Meanwhile, residents of Sanaa, witnessed the fiercest Saudi strikes since the air assault started last week. Military facilities, including two bases, within the city limits have been targeted, three senior security officials in Sanaa said.
At the Security Council, Russia submitted a draft resolution calling for a halt to the airstrikes that a nine-country regional coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, has been conducting against the rebels in Yemen for more than a week.
The meeting adjourned with no decision announced.
One diplomat said the draft was missing what the envoy called key elements. It doesn't call for the Houthis to stop fighting, and it does not call for political talks between the belligerents, the diplomat told CNN on condition of anonymity.
Hundreds killed
Yemen has been descending into chaos in the weeks since Houthi rebels -- minority Shiites who have long complained of being marginalized in the majority Sunni country -- forced Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from power in January.
